Full disclosure, I had originally written this post in January, which is just so telling of how homeschooling in the new year can go. We are now deep into February, a time in the homeschool year that Sarah McKenzie of Read Aloud Revival calls “low tide,” meaning that everything is pulled back and the raw issues that can make homeschooling difficult or frustrating are revealed. For me, the...
I am always in awe at how quickly time passes, but still I am amazed that here we are at the end of 2025. This summer we took a departure from tabletop games, which made me quite sad. I actually got really lonely and was begging my kids (and grandkids) to play with me. Thankfully, as we got into the rhythm of Autumn we found our love for games again, AND I found my love of blogging again, so...
So let me get this straight. You’re 41. You’re 41 and feeling old. Your body is tired. You’ve been exercising more than you every have in your life and pay attention to every bite that goes into your mouth, but your body hurts and is still heavy. Strong, but heavy and weighted down. You feel broken sometimes when your joints betray you and the doctors have no good answers...
Oooooh! Ahhhh! A limited edition in a very nice box. Seriously, we waited more than a year for this beauty to arrive. Title: TsuroPublisher: Calliope GamesType: Movement/LogicTime: 15 minutesAge: 6+ or as soon as they can comprehend the rules and place the piecesSkills: Dexterity, logic, planning ahead, visual tracking, frustration tolerance (Trust me, it’s a skill.) Tsuro Collector’s...
We are a read-aloud family. When I was a child, being read to was as much a part of our daily life as regular meals, especially when I was very young. Those times spent with my mom and dad reading favorite stories formed me as a reader and a writer. Later in school I was blessed with teachers who read to us as a class and really instilled the love of stories shared in community. I love to read...
Or good games? As a homeschooling mom it is tempting to try to make everything “educational”. A walk turns into a nature walk, cooking dinner becomes a chemistry lesson, folding laundry becomes a geometry lesson (folding, right?). As a gameschooling mom, I’m often asked what my favorite educational games are, and although there is an entire subset genre of games, and in fact entire companies...
This is the third post in a series about why our family makes playing games together a priority. The first post was about how we use games to connect as a family, and the second post focused on how playing games challenges our minds to learn and grow in situations that might not be encountered otherwise. Today’s post is about how playing games develops character in us and in our children...
A quick and easy cooperative game for the whole family. Game Title: RavinePublisher: Timber and BoltPlayers: 3-6 (more with the expansion) Ages: 10+ (official) but 6+ with help easily. Time: 20 mins Close friends introduced us to Ravine when we crashed at their house for a quick date night with appetizers in hand. We were instantly taken by how simple it was to play right from the box, but had...
2023 has been the year of “Less is more.” I decided in the summer that I wouldn’t be participating in anything additional and, in fact, our family would be making deep cuts to our activity schedule. It was hard because it meant less time with other families and risking feeling left out of fun things. I stepped out of a leadership position in a scouting organization that I had been in for three...
This is the second post in a short series about why the Stubborn household has made playing games a priority in our home. If you missed the first one, check it out here. The second reason that we have chosen to make playing games a priority in our household is that tabletop games, weather they are card games, deck builders, heavy strategy games, word games, or simple roll and play, are uniquely...
Wife, mother, chauffeur, referee, teacher, chef, caretaker, etc...All unto Christ.
